People rally round to help rebuild mosque torched by thugs

Liz Gallacher

People of all faiths have been rallying round to help raise the £10,000 needed to rebuild a mosque in Bishopbriggs which was set on fire deliberately.

In the space of a couple of days, two online crowd-funding campaigns have raised several hundred pounds.

Bishopbriggs Cultural Centre at Auchinairn Road suffered interior and exterior damage after the blaze in the early hours of Tuesday, November 17.

Police are investigating the fire as a possible “hate crime” and are appealing for witnesses.

rachelmc5, the owner of the first crowdfunding campaign, which has so far raised £290, posted online: “This crowdfunder is to stand in solidarity with the users of the centre and to raise funds to help them redecorate and continue their work.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow Central Mosque said: “We feel consoled at the messages of support received from our non-Muslim brothers and sisters, after they learned about the Bishopbriggs incident.”

The city mosque is also providing funds to help repair the local prayer centre.

The second crowdfunding campaign has been set up by the Muslim community.

They said online: “We’re raising £10,000 to make repairs to the Bishopbriggs Musallah (place of prayer) because it was targeted by racist thugs in an arson attack.

“We want to raise funds to restore the Musallah to even better than what it was. Glasgow Central Mosque has provided a loan to the Centre to rebuild to its former glory.

“However, we as a community should come together to raise the funds to help pay for this loan and to ensure the Musallah is rebuilt to its former glory.

“The money will be spent on repairing the building structure as well as the interior.”

Here are the links to the two crowdfundraising campaigns: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bishopbriggs-muslim-cultural-centre-1 and http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bishopbriggs-musallah